Chapter 41: The Criminals
Thick smoke billowed from the wrecked steam car. The battle had come suddenly and ended just as fast. The Holy Hall Adventure Group wasn't completely annihilated; the contractors responsible for attacking Amu, Baha, and the 15 old hunters had made a strategic retreat. The reason was simple—their Tuanzhang (Regiment Leader) was dead.
After the alternate space vanished, Su Xiao surveyed the surrounding wilderness. A faint crimson glow flickered within the wild grass, hidden and visible by turns. In total, there were 9 Scarlet Cards.
Regarding this ambush, Su Xiao found it somewhat strange. Adelie and the others had set up an ambush inside the alternate space, already arranging their formation. It was a suppression-oriented siege formation.
If they were dealing with the God Hunter Ta Baldr or the Hyena Fox Yas, this formation would be highly effective, especially against the latter. Yas was renowned for his immense instantaneous destructive power. Facing a triple-domain suppression siege like this, he would fall within minutes of the battle starting.
It could be said that the disguise function played a crucial role in this battle. In Adelie's perception, Su Xiao was a God Hunter of this world. In their minds, they weren't worried about how to deal with Su Xiao; rather, they were more concerned with how to isolate him. Sieging a boss unit was something the Holy Hall Adventure Group had likely experienced many times.
The reason Su Xiao found it strange was Adelie's source of information.
Currently, there were only two hostile forces. One was Douglas. If he hadn't died, he might rally the Dark Demons and the Wraiths. The other was the Ancient God faction.
Su Xiao suspected that Adelie had most likely joined the Ancient God faction. The soul of the Ancient God faction would be very happy to see this situation. Given the soul's modus operandi, it might even mislead Adelie into launching the attack, thereby accomplishing something else.
Thinking of this, Su Xiao looked toward the distant city of Sodo. Something had likely already happened there. The soul wouldn't miss this opportunity. Ta Baldr had to remain at the Watch Guild headquarters, and he had just been delayed by Adelie and the others.
"Baha, return to Sodo City at maximum speed."
"Understood."
Baha vanished, beginning a space warp. In about five minutes, Baha returned.
"Boss, Viper was attacked. He lost an arm and almost had his head bitten off by a Dark Demon. The wealthy merchant he was backing died horribly. Most of the celebration venue was blown up, and many civilians died. The Rhine Kingdom has sealed off the news."
"Is that so."
Su Xiao looked at a Scarlet Card in his hand. It was Adelie's Scarlet Card. Clearly, Adelie had been set up by the soul. The reason Adelie dared to launch such an attack was most likely because he had received false information provided by the soul.
If Su Xiao's guess was correct, the false information was about his own profile—a profile similar to that of a normal God Hunter. That was precisely why Adelie dared to come for an ambush. An Apocalypse adventure group, when encountering a cunning bastard like the soul, would be thoroughly screwed.
The current situation was within acceptable limits. Viper's plan would be affected, but given Viper's ruthless nature, he would most likely seal off the news and continue the celebration. Even so, the scale of the celebration would be impacted.
As for Viper's side, Su Xiao didn't plan to help. If he couldn't even handle a setback of this magnitude, then finding the World Child was a pipe dream.
Of the 15 old hunters assigned to this escort mission, 6 had died. The attack had come too suddenly.
It was undeniable that the Holy Hall Adventure Group had considerable expertise in ambushes. It was just that their overall strength wasn't great. The combat power of their members was at the mid-to-lower level. If not for their numbers, Su Xiao wouldn't have even bothered using Dead Silence Descent. As for Azure Shadow King, he hadn't used it from start to finish.
Boarding a steam car, Su Xiao leaned back in the rear seat. Adelie had delivered a great gift this time—20% of a seventh-rank adventure group's team supplies. The value of that was self-evident. More importantly, this was an Apocalypse Paradise adventure group, which meant they were very wealthy.
Team supplies could only be claimed after returning to Reincarnation Paradise. Su Xiao opened the adventure group list and checked the situation of the Dawn Adventure Group.
The Dawn Adventure Group was an SS-rank solo adventure group. It still needed 8,000 points of team experience to reach SSS-rank. Currently, Su Xiao had two options: accumulate, or convert the 42,000 team experience points into 42 team skill points, using them to raise "Team Skill 1: Radiant Team" to an extremely high level, thereby enhancing the squad's overall combat power.
This was the closest he had ever been to an SSS-rank adventure group. Su Xiao decided to accumulate. Changing plans on a whim was not a good habit. If he didn't seize this opportunity, whether he would ever have another chance to push for an SSS-rank adventure group was uncertain.
Obtaining adventure group experience involved a fair amount of luck, though personal strength was, of course, more important.
The scenery outside the car window blurred past. When the steam car stopped in the open space in front of the headquarters, Fragrant Lady was already waiting there.
"Got ambushed?"
Fragrant Lady's smile was like a blooming flower. She was clearly a woman who held grudges. After all, she had been "rejected" by Su Xiao that very morning. For a woman over thirty, whose feminine charm was fully ripe, that was unacceptable.
"Mm."
"You're actually injured. The Beak Doctor just returned to headquarters. Let him treat you."
"..."
"Viper sent word. He will continue the celebration. The only good news now is that we don't have to wait until 10 PM. Around 8 PM, those seven criminals should all be assembled. The only problem is that no one can restrain them. At least, I can't. They're all unruly bastards."
Fragrant Lady's tone was languid as she leaned against the car door. The fragrance emanating from her body was enough to make one drowsy. That wasn't an illusion. The perfume Fragrant Lady had applied today was a sleep-inducing type. If she were in a very bad mood, it would be a lethal type. Anyone who dared to nestle in her embrace and take a deep breath would die on the spot.
"If you can't restrain them, kill them and get another batch."
Su Xiao walked toward the main entrance of the headquarters. Hearing his words, a slight curve lifted the corner of Fragrant Lady's mouth. She was looking forward to the meeting that night.
Time flew by. Unnoticed, it was already 7:30 PM. On the fifth floor of the headquarters, in a meeting room, the lights were on, illuminating every corner of the room. Metal bars sealed the windows.
Around a rectangular dining table sat seven men dressed in gray clothing. They were seated on heavy metal chairs, each bolted to the floor. The hands of these seven were all bound to the armrests of their chairs.
"Sweetheart, unlock my shackles. I'm starving."
One of the bound criminals spoke. His most prominent feature was his ugliness. His carefree face had a large mouth, and what was even more striking was his tongue—twice as wide and three times longer than a normal person's. At that moment, he was using his tongue to lick his own eyeball for fun.
This criminal was called Big Mouth Gitt. Among the group, his overall ability was mid-tier.
"Someone will unlock your shackles, but it won't be me."
Amelia, sitting against the wall, spoke. Due to her previous performance, she had been appointed as the Rhine Kingdom's representative in this incident, elevating her status. However, the high heels and black stockings she wore attracted Big Mouth Gitt's attention. He was staring at her intently, a gaze that disgusted her.
"Then never let me go, or you'll be in big trouble."
"Shut your big mouth. The hunters are just outside the door."
Amelia glanced at Big Mouth Gitt, exuding the aura of an ice beauty.
"Hunters? I'm fast. It might be over before they even come in. Hehehe… Hahahaha."
Big Mouth Gitt laughed, rocking back and forth. Hearing this, Amelia, who was sitting cross-legged, frowned, her expression showing disgust.
"Silence."
A voice with a strong staccato rhythm came from another criminal. He was called the Silent One, Salisbury. He was sitting upright, his expression stern.
Besides these two, the other criminals present were Ape-Man Rockchi, Giant Mountain Liekoff, Button Sonny (a female criminal), Stitched Man Womori, and the smallest of them all, Necromancer Yuyur.
Except for Necromancer Yuyur, the other six had all exchanged words with each other, either chatting or mocking one another. No one spoke to Necromancer Yuyur, not because they didn't want to, but because they didn't dare.
Necromancer Yuyur sat with his head lowered, as if asleep.
The door was pushed open, and a hunter in a black trench coat entered the room. He was holding a set of keys. Seeing him enter, except for Necromancer Yuyur, the expressions of the other six criminals varied. Some showed wariness, others were completely indifferent.
Click.
The shackles on Big Mouth Gitt's hands were unlocked. He flexed his wrists, glanced at Amelia, then reached for the food on the table.
Amelia appeared unconcerned, but inwardly, she was panicking. If she weren't representing the Rhine Kingdom's royal family, she would leave this meeting room immediately, right now. She didn't want to be in the same room as a bunch of deranged lunatics.
Soon, the shackles of all seven criminals were unlocked. Except for Necromancer Yuyur, the other six began to enjoy their dinner. Some had a sense of ceremony, while others simply grabbed food with their hands. But one thing was consistent: most of the table knives had disappeared.
"Everyone, enjoying your meal?"
Fragrant Lady stood at the door, a smile on her face.
Aside from the sounds of chewing, no one replied. No one even glanced at Fragrant Lady.
"Everyone, it took me nearly two days to get you all here. Time is precious. I just made a deal with a man who has no sense of fun. If you're willing to negotiate with me and help us accomplish something, he won't get involved. So… please, at least acknowledge me? Believe me, you don't want to negotiate with that man."
Fragrant Lady's words caught the attention of a few present. However, most of them only glanced at her before continuing to gorge themselves.
"I am… Yuyur."
Necromancer Yuyur spoke, opening his eyes. A pair of green pupils drew the attention of everyone present.
"Yuyur, a nice name. What about the other six?"
Fragrant Lady had a favorable impression of Yuyur. He was both powerful and knew how to read the situation.
"You're annoying, woman with poison on you."
Big Mouth Gitt put down the smoked meat pie in his hand, looking impatiently at Fragrant Lady.
"So the six of you are unwilling to negotiate?"
"It's not that we're unwilling to negotiate. It's that we don't want to be used by the Watch Guild and then executed. Coming here, I never thought I'd survive. I'm not afraid of death, so why would I be afraid of you?"
Ape-Man Rockchi sneered, then continued to wolf down his food. He was eating as much as he could, not wanting to die on an empty stomach.
"Give me a few more minutes. Gathering personnel is very time-consuming. Ten minutes, no, at most five. They're all smart people. Don't come in yet…"
Before Fragrant Lady could finish her sentence, blood energy surged in from outside the door. The room suddenly fell silent, so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.